The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Crisis and the Life Expectancy Gap for Native Americans, 2010-2019.

BACKGROUND: We assessed the role of missing and murdered indigenous relatives (MMIR) relevant causes of death in the life expectancy gap between the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) and non-Hispanic White populations. METHODS: Using 2010-2019 National Center for Health Statistics Detailed Mortality files, we created multidecrement life tables and used the age-incidence decomposition method to identify (1) the causes of death that contribute to the gap in life expectancy between White and AIAN, and (2) the mechanisms through which these causes operate. RESULTS: Causes of death relevant to MMIR constituted 4.0% of all AIAN deaths, but accounted for almost one-tenth (9.6%; 0.74 of 8.21 years) of the overall AIAN-White life expectancy gap. MMIR-relevant causes accounted for 6.6% of the AIAN-White life expectancy gap for women and 11.9% of the for men. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests a critical agenda for research on racial inequities in mortality, with a focus on MMIR.

Spatial Distribution of Hateful Tweets Against Asians and Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic, November 2019 to May 2020.

Objectives. To illustrate the spatiotemporal distribution of geolocated tweets that contain anti-Asian hate language in the contiguous United States during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. We used a data set of geolocated tweets that match with keywords reflecting COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate and identified geographical clusters using the space-time scan statistic with Bernoulli model. Results. Anti-Asian hate language surged between January and March 2020. We found clusters of hate across the contiguous United States. The strongest cluster consisted of a single county (Ross County, Ohio), where the proportion of hateful tweets was 312.13 times higher than for the rest of the country. Conclusions. Anti-Asian hate on Twitter exhibits a significantly clustered spatiotemporal distribution. Clusters vary in size, duration, strength, and location and are scattered across the entire contiguous United States. Public Health Implications. Our results can inform decision-makers in public health and safety for allocating resources for place-based preparedness and response for pandemic-induced racism as a public health threat. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(4):646-649. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306653.

Just data representation for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: A critical review of systemic Indigenous erasure in census and recommendations for psychologists.

The decennial Census survey marks the emergence of federal classifications of race and ethnicity by which the U.S. government has historically conflated Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI, hereafter) as "Asian or Pacific Islander." This conflation amplifies health injustices and inequities of NHPIs through multiple mechanisms because it masks the complex and heterogeneous experiences of NHPIs, whose positions and relations with the settler state are qualitatively and substantially distinct from Asian Americans. This critical review examines federal documents and research to examine how the panethnic categorizations are often sustained through scientific inquiry and methodologies. We found that self-determination and self-identification for NHPIs are impeded by settler-colonial relations between U.S. colonization of parts of Oceania (e.g., Hawai'i, Samoa, Fiji, and Guam) and the forcefully imposed categorization that continues to be in use to legitimize the domination of Indigenous Peoples through race misclassification. Specifically, Census data collection fails to capture accurate and reliable data due to serious methodological limitations. These implications for psychological research compel us to make several recommendations for psychologists: (1) engage with NHPI community partners in all research processes; (2) critically examine Census research design and consider oversampling NHPI households to ensure just data representation; (3) meaningfully engage when, whether and how to aggregate Asian Americans with NHPIs; and (4) use Indigeneity as a critical framework.

Trends in Racial Discrimination Experiences for Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Asian Americans (AAs) are experiencing increased rates of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. Experiences of racism, whether personal or collective, constitute stress and psychosocial trauma that negatively impact mental and physical health. OBJECTIVES: Examine subgroup differences in rates of personal experience of discrimination and COVID-related collective racism and how each is associated with mental and physical health for AAs. METHODS: Nationally representative data from the 2021 Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander COVID-19 Needs Assessment Project were used to estimate prevalence rates of discrimination and average COVID-related collective racism scores for AAs (unweighted N = 3478). We conducted logistic and linear regression models to examine subgroup differences by sociodemographic factors. We also conducted hierarchical logistic regression models to examine associations between racism and psychological distress and health decline. RESULTS: Twenty-four percent of AAs (95% CI: 21.6, 25.6) reported experiencing discrimination during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subgroup analyses revealed that Chinese, younger adults, and AAs who completed the survey in an Asian language were significantly more likely to experience discrimination compared to their counterparts. For COVID-related collective racism, subgroup analyses revealed that Chinese, women, and adults ages 25-44 were more likely to report experiences of collective racism compared to their counterparts. Both discrimination and collective racism were independently associated with negative mental and physical health. CONCLUSION: Discrimination and COVID-related collective racism are associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes for AAs. Results point to vulnerable AA subgroups and the need for targeted public health efforts to address racism in the context of COVID-19.

Discrimination and psychological distress among Asian Americans during COVID-19: Gender differences in the moderating role of social support.

Our study aimed to assess the role of social support on the impact of discrimination on psychological distress for Asian American women and men. Using the Asian American sample from the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander COVID-19 Needs Assessment Study (n = 3,508), we used logistic regression to examine the moderating role of different types of social support on the relationship between discrimination and psychological distress by gender. Among Asian Americans, facing discrimination was associated with higher odds of psychological distress, and receiving emotional support was associated with lower odds of psychological distress. When examining interactions between discrimination, social support, and gender, we found that facing discrimination led to the highest odds of psychological distress for Asian American women who provided emotional support. Our findings highlight different mechanisms by which social support buffers and exacerbates the psychological burden of discrimination for Asian Americans. These findings have overall and gender-informed implications for community policies to promote mental health resilience by actively alleviating the effects of racism among Asian Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Greater Inclusion of Asian Americans in Aging Research on Family Caregiving for Better Understanding of Racial Health Inequities.

With the substantial demographic changes in racial composition in the United States since 1965, research on racial health inequities must build upon the Black-White binary to assess the complex ways "race" affects health and aging. Considering variation in the prevalence and meanings of aging across racialized groups requires concerted efforts to expand and disaggregate samples. Aligned with the goals of the intersectionality framework, we argue that greater inclusion of Asian Americans is critical to advance both theoretical and methodological considerations that enable us to investigate the lived experiences of Asian Americans. Using caregiving as an example, we discuss how systemic, cultural, and interpersonal marginalization from racism and other oppressive systems intertwine with "race" to produce the race effects. Greater inclusion of Asian Americans helps further provide the opportunity to conceptualize culture as dynamic and interacting with structure to produce different racial patterns. Meaningful inclusion of Asian Americans in research requires more systemic effort to collect accurate, reliable, and quality data for Asian Americans that can be disaggregated by other important axes of stratification.

Legal Status, Worries About Deportation, and Depression Among Asian Immigrants.

Although legal status and worries of deportation have been identified as key factors in immigrant health inequities for Latinx immigrants, how they impact health of Asian immigrants is largely unknown. Using 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey, we used sets of logistic regressions to examine the relationships among legal statuses, worries about deportation, and depression for Asian immigrants (n = 1371). Asian immigrants who are in the process of applying for citizenship, those with visas, and those who are ineligible to apply for citizenship were significantly more likely to be depressed compared with naturalized citizens. The significant associations between legal status and depression were mediated by worries about deportation. Legal status and worries of deportation are important determinants of health for Asian immigrants. The results point to a critical need for systematic investment in data collection for data disaggregation.

Indigenous data sovereignty and COVID-19 data issues for American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and populations.

Indigenous Peoples in the United States have been experiencing disproportionate impacts of COVID-19. American Indian and Alaska Native persons are more likely to be infected, experience complications, and die from coronavirus. Evidence suggests that Indigenous persons have 3.5 times the incidence rate of non-Hispanic/Latinx whites. Unfortunately, this is likely a gross underestimate because of a lack of reliable and accurate COVID-19 data for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Multiple factors contribute to poor data quality including the lack of Indigenous representation in the data and rampant racial misclassification at both the individual and group levels. The current pandemic has shed light on multiple pre-existing issues related to Indigenous data sovereignty in data collection and management. We discuss the importance of centring Indigenous data sovereignty in the systemic efforts to increase COVID-19 data availability and quality. The federal and state governments must support and promote Tribes' rights to access data. Federal and state governments should also focus on bolstering their data availability and quality for aggregated data on AIAN populations and for providing disaggregated Tribal data to Tribes. Given the pivotal moment in the United States with ongoing and parallel pandemics of coronavirus and racism, we urge demographers and population scientists to reflect on the role of structural racism in data, data collection and analysis.

Structural Inequalities Established the Architecture for COVID-19 Pandemic Among Native Americans in Arizona: a Geographically Weighted Regression Perspective.

Native Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The present study explores whether areas with high percentages of Native American residents are experiencing the equal risks of contracting COVID-19 by examining how the relationships between structural inequalities and confirmed COVID-19 cases spatially vary across Arizona using a geographically weighted regression (GWR). GWR helps with the identification of areas with high confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arizona and with understanding of which predictors of social inequalities are associated with confirmed COVID-19 cases at specific locations. We find that structural inequality indicators and presence of Native Americans are significantly associated with higher confirmed COVID-19 cases; and the relationships between structural inequalities and confirmed COVID-19 cases are significantly stronger in areas with high concentration of Native Americans, particular on Tribal lands. The findings highlight the negative effects that lack of infrastructure (i.e., housing with plumbing, transportation, and accessible health communication) may have on individual and population health, and, in this case, associated with the increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Understanding the Associations among Social Vulnerabilities, Indigenous Peoples, and COVID-19 Cases within Canadian Health Regions.

Indigenous Peoples are at an increased risk for infectious disease, including COVID-19, due to the historically embedded deleterious social determinants of health. Furthermore, structural limitations in Canadian federal government data contribute to the lack of comparative rates of COVID-19 between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. To make visible Indigenous Peoples' experiences in the public health discourse in the midst of COVID-19, this paper aims to answer the following interrelated research questions: (1) What are the associations of key social determinants of health and COVID-19 cases among Canadian health regions? and (2) How do these relationships relate to Indigenous communities? As both proximal and distal social determinants of health conjointly contribute to COVID-19 impacts on Indigenous health, this study used a unique dataset assembled from multiple sources to examine the associations among key social determinants of health characteristics and health with a focus on Indigenous Peoples. We highlight key social vulnerabilities that stem from systemic racism and that place Indigenous populations at increased risk for COVID-19. Many Indigenous health issues are rooted in the historical impacts of colonization, and partially invisible due to systemic federal underfunding in Indigenous communities. The Canadian government must invest in collecting accurate, reliable, and disaggregated data on COVID-19 case counts for Indigenous Peoples, as well as in improving Indigenous community infrastructure and services.

Indigenous Peoples, concentrated disadvantage, and income inequality in New Mexico: a ZIP code-level investigation of spatially varying associations between socioeconomic disadvantages and confirmed COVID-19 cases.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease pandemic has disproportionately affected poor and racial/ethnic minority individuals and communities, especially Indigenous Peoples. The object of this study is to understand the spatially varying associations between socioeconomic disadvantages and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Mexico at the ZIP code level. METHODS: We constructed ZIP code-level data (n=372) using the 2014-2018 American Community Survey and COVID-19 data from the New Mexico Department of Health (as of 24 May 2020). The log-linear Poisson and geographically weighted Poisson regression are applied to model the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (total population as the offset) in a ZIP code. RESULTS: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in a ZIP code is positively associated with socioeconomic disadvantages-specifically, the high levels of concentrated disadvantage and income inequality. It is also positively associated with the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Native populations, net of other potential confounders at the ZIP code level. Importantly, these associations are spatially varying in that some ZIP codes suffer more from concentrated disadvantage than others. CONCLUSIONS: Additional attention for COVID-19 mitigation effort should focus on areas with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage, income inequality, and higher percentage of American Indian and Alaska Native populations as these areas have higher incidence of COVID-19. The findings also highlight the importance of plumbing in all households for access to clean and safe water, and the dissemination of educational materials aimed at COVID-19 prevention in non-English language including Indigenous languages.

Individual-, family-, and contextual-level variables do not explain the protective effect of parental nativity status on changes in 3-15-year-old children's BMI.

Individual-, family-, and contextual-level factors can simultaneously and interactively affect a child's body mass index (BMI). We examine parental nativity as a key determinant of changes in children's BMI over time. Prior research on this topic has been inconclusive. A longitudinal sample of households with children residing in four low-income, high minority New Jersey cities provided data on demographics, socioeconomic status, anthropometric measures, as well as dietary and physical activity behaviors for one randomly selected child. The baseline interview for two separate cohorts took place in 2009/10 and 2014-15, with a follow-up interview 2-5 years later. The outcome variable, change in BMI z-score was divided into three categories (decrease in BMI z-score; no meaningful change; increase in BMI z-score) and analyzed using ordinal logistic regressions. About 28% of the children in the sample had at least one foreign-born parent. For the two major racial/ethnic groups, i.e., Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks, having a foreign-born parent was associated with a favorable change in BMI-children of foreign-born parents were more likely to experience a decrease BMI z-score between baseline and follow-up. Multivariate analyses reveal that the initial association between parental nativity and children's BMI change (OR = 0.20; p < 0.001) persists after controlling for an extensive set of covariates, such as child dietary and physical activity behaviors, family-level variables, census tract characteristics, and measures of food environment (OR = 0.17; p < 0.001). Through a series of sensitivity analyses, we verified that our results are consistent across different model specifications. In our sample, having a foreign-born parent was a protective factor for children's BMI change that operates through different pathways than might be anticipated.

COVID-19 in New Mexico Tribal Lands: Understanding the Role of Social Vulnerabilities and Historical Racisms.

The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionally affected Indigenous Peoples. Unfortunately, there is no accurate understanding of COVID-19's impacts on Indigenous Peoples and communities due to systematic erasure of Indigenous representation in data. Early evidence suggests that COVID-19 has been able to spread through pre-pandemic mechanisms ranging from disproportionate chronic health conditions, inadequate access to healthcare, and poor living conditions stemming from structural inequalities. Using innovative data, we comprehensively investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous Peoples in New Mexico at the zip code level. Specifically, we expand the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to include the measures of structural vulnerabilities from historical racisms against Indigenous Peoples. We found that historically-embedded structural vulnerabilities (e.g., Tribal land status and higher percentages of house units without telephone and complete plumbing) are critical in understanding the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 that American Indian and Alaska Native populations are experiencing. We found that historically-embedded vulnerability variables that emerged epistemologically from Indigenous knowledge had the largest explanatory power compared to other social vulnerability factors from SVI and COVID-19, especially Tribal land status. The findings demonstrate the critical need in public health to center Indigenous knowledge and methodologies in mitigating the deleterious impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous Peoples and communities, specifically designing place-based mitigating strategies.

Health Implications of Black Lives Matter Among Black Adults.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined whether knowledge, understanding and support of the Black Lives Matter movement were positively linked to self-reported physical health among a representative sample of Black American adults. METHODS: The 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-election Survey (CMPS) examined attitudes about the 2016 US election, immigration, policing, racial equality, and racial discrimination among Asian American, Black American, Latinx, and White adults. The current study used the Black American sample, which included 3102 individuals (69% female) older than 18 years of age. We used a set of logistic regression models to assess the associations of knowledge, support, and understanding of Black Lives Matter with overall physical health. RESULTS: Although knowledge of Black Lives Matter was not a significant predictor for physical health, understanding and supporting Black Lives Matter significantly predicted positive physical health among Black American adults. CONCLUSIONS: Black American adults who understand and support Black Lives Matter reported more positive overall physical health.

Correction to: Health Implications of Black Lives Matter Among Black Adults.

The names of two coauthors of this article were updated following the article's original publication.

Foreign-Born Hispanic Women's Health Patterns in Allostatic Load Converge to U.S.-Born Hispanic Women at a Slower Tempo Compared With Men.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the patterns of foreign-born Hispanic health convergence to U.S.-born Hispanics using an allostatic load index, a subjective biological risk health profile, and we explored whether the health convergence patterns differ by sex. METHODS: The analytic sample consisted of 3,347 Hispanics from the pooled 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used negative binomial regression models to investigate the association between duration in the United States and the allostatic load index, while controlling for potential covariates. RESULTS: Foreign-born Hispanics who had lived in the United States for 0-9 years and 10-19 years had lower levels of allostatic load than U.S.-born Hispanics; however, those who had lived in the United States for 20 or more years had a level of allostatic load similar to their U.S.-born counterparts. The pattern of immigrant health convergence shows a clear sex difference. In the sex-stratified models, we found that foreign-born Hispanic men converged to the level of allostatic load of U.S.-born Hispanic men after having lived in the United States for approximately 10 years. The health convergence pattern qualitatively differed for foreign-born Hispanic women, who remained healthier than U.S.-born Hispanic women regardless of duration in the United States. CONCLUSIONS: Foreign-born Hispanics are healthier than their U.S.-born counterparts, providing support for the healthy migrant hypothesis. This relatively better health of foreign-born Hispanics disappears with a longer duration in the United States, providing support for the health convergence hypothesis, but is most noticeable for men. Foreign-born Hispanic women converge to U.S.-born Hispanic women's health status at a slower tempo, compared with foreign-born Hispanic men.